Promising June turns into painful July for Astros

At the end of every month, I'll be looking at the Astros' overall performance for that month, breaking down their stats, transactions and overall team performance. I'll also list the player and pitcher of the month as well as the LVP of that month (Least Valuable Player for those who didn't get that).

Before I get into the Astros' July stuff, let me go back for just a moment and briefly revisit the month of June (I missed it and I have no excuse for that other than I just forgot/was doing other things/(insert your very own excuse here).

The Astros finally posted a winning month and managed to come into a somewhat decent groove offensively. Oswalt returned to form as trade rumors cooled and Michael Bourn excelled both offensively and defensively throughout the month. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Mike Hampton and his sterling 2.50 ERA for the month, though his record was only 1-1.

After two months of near invincibility, Wandy Rodriguez finally faltered some in June as he bottomed out in two home starts against Texas and Colorado. June also saw the beginning of the end for Russ Ortiz as his numbers started to drift south, a trend that would cost him his job later on down the road.

However, the Astros enjoyed a fine month, a month which saw them narrow the margin between them and first place by five games, and looked to carry that momentum into July.

July (14-14, 51-53 overall) (5.5 games back in NL Central)

The Astros seemed to carry the momentum from June over quite nicely as the team roared out to a ferocious 13-7 start, capped off by a series sweep of St. Louis at Minute Maid Park on July 23rd thanks to a Miguel Tejada walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th. The sweep, as well as the victory in the opener of a three game set with the Mets on July 24th, had the Astros just 1.5 games out first place in the Central, tied with the Cubs for second place. The opener of the Mets series saw the Astros manhandle ace Johan Santana for 5 earned runs on 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings. But the Astros would go 1-7 the rest of the way and move four more games off the pace in the Central by month's end. The misery started on July 25th with a 10-3 loss to the Mets and culminated with two vicious poundings by the Cubs in Chicago. The first being a 12-0 drubbing of Mike Hampton on July 29th and a 12-3 drubbing the very next day, a loss which cost Russ Ortiz his job not one hour after the game ended after he gave up 9 ER in 2.1 innings. The losses in Chicago also ate away at the overused bullpen, which forced Houston to call up Astros pitching prospects Bud Norris and Sammy Gervacio. Norris tossed three innings on the 29th in his big league debut, striking out 4 and allowing one earned run. Gervacio has not played. The Astros also lost key members to their bullpen throughout July, Chris Sampson, Doug Brocail, LaTroy Hawkins and Wesley Wright all battled numerous ailments as the overuse of the pen took it's toll down the stretch.

On July 31st, the trade deadline passed without the Astros' involvement. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs only got better, especially the Redbirds, who picked up All-Star OF Matt Holiday from Oakland, Mark DeRosa from Cleveland and former Astro Julio Lugo from Boston. The Astros have now proven that they will stay the course and hold onto their farm while hoping that the aging relics in Houston hold it together for one more push in August and September.

Roy Oswalt has continued to throw the ball well, though his recent injury in Chicago could stunt that progression. Meanwhile, Mike Hampton's job is becoming more and more like a day-to-day deal. The southpaw is currently sporting a 6-8 record and 5.36 ERA through 18 starts this season. Though those numbers aren't great, the worst part is the deception in them; 4 of Hampton's 6 wins this season are against the Pirates, meaning he's 2-8 against the rest of the league with an ERA somewhere above Einstein's I.Q. With another encounter with Pittsburgh not coming until the end of the regular season, Hampton could give way to Yorman Bazardo before the end of this month. Stay tuned.

MVP: Carlos Lee

It was tough not giving Tejada his third MVP award, but El Caballo was definitely on fire in July, batting .327 with 5 homers and 18 RBIs. Lee produced 9 multi-hit games and was among the main cogs during the Astros' continued rise from the ashes through June to mid-July. Lee's overall numbers are a bit lower than usual for this time of year, but his bat is still booming in spite of Lance Berkman's absence throughout most of July and currently here in August.

POM: Roy Oswalt

Wandy rebounded well from his terrible June, but no one was shutting em down better than Roy O in July. Oswalt finished July with a 2-0 record, 2.27 ERA in 31.2 IP along with 23Ks and a staggering 3 BB. His 0.73 WHIP and .185 BAA were also among the best in the league. His July 17th complete game win in LA against the Dodgers was by far his best game of the season. Simply put, it's just nice to be able to watch him pitch ace-like ball again after two months of hearing, "what's wrong with Roy?" Keep it coming, Wizard!

LVP: Russ Ortiz

Ortiz's last 10 starts ultimately cost him his job (0-5 12.23 ERA), but his terrible performances did a double-whammy on the Astros, which likely made things a whole lot easer in regards to his release, as his outings consistently called for the bullpen to go for 6 or 7 innings per start. That's a tremendous load on an already fragile ‘pen. It seems as though Ortiz simply ran out of gas and may even have tossed his final major league pitch, though that's just my personal perspective.